A former employee of a Pine Belt rehab facility is headed to prison after pleading guilty to stealing Hydrocodone from his workplace.
39-year old Jason Matthew Dye of Hattiesburg was auditing narcotics as part of his job as a risk manager at Columbia Rehabilitation and Health Center when he stole the drugs, according to Attorney General Jim Hood’s office. The drugs, intended for patients at the facility, were held at the facility in a secure location. Dye pled guilty to the felony charge of obtaining a Schedule II controlled substance by larceny or deception on Tuesday.
After the plea, Dye was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections but will only serve one year in prison. The remainder of his sentence will consist of three years on supervised probation, and one year on unsupervised probation. After the sentencing, AG Hood stated that healthcare workers who abuse their position must be held accountable.
“It’s a shame when the people we entrust with our care commit a criminal act,” said General Hood. “I thank our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Judge McDonald for holding our healthcare workers accountable.”
Judge McDonald also ordered Dye to pay a $1,000 fine, a $1,000 assessment to the Public Defender’s Fund, and costs of court.
